Another open water swim

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I love the feeling of Fall quickly approaching. And I love running single track trails at Garin! What do you get when you put those two things together?

Guess who's back in town? Cows! They brought their babies along this time. These babies were so damn cute.

Mommas were very protective, probably because Jana and I had FOUR dogs with us. I'm very happy to have the cows back. It's kind of lonely out there without them. I wish one of them would be kind enough to let me kiss them on the nose though. They won't let me get close enough to them, the little buggers!

Yesterday I went to the pool after Pilates, before having to work. I concentrated on keeping my face looking straight down instead of forward. I worked hard on my "pull" and also getting my feet a little higher when I kick. I did pretty good with breathing every third stroke, so that means I'm breathing on both sides a bit easier now. Woohoo! I took a FULL FIVE MINUTES off my time for a mile. I was quite happy with that. I didn't feel as fatigued as normal and no lower back pain. Thanks Judi, for your helpful hints. ;)

So, the run at Garin was early this morning before I had to go to work at 11:30. I brought my swim stuff with me so I could go to the pool on the way home. When I got out of work at 4:00, the temperature was 90 degrees. I thought, I COULD head over to the lake and try that again. I thought about it for a few minutes and began driving that direction. I rushed over, thinking I would only have until 5:00 to swim but when I got there I was told there was no lifeguard on duty but I could "swim at my own risk." Okay. When I got to the beach, not only was there no lifeguard, there was no BODY. Not a single soul. This made the water look even more scary. I looked out at the water and came up with a million reasons why I couldn't/shouldn't get in. What if a big fish came and pulled me under? What if I couldn't swim back to shore? What if some sick-o decided to come in the water and push me under?

I told myself I only had to do two laps. That was it! Just two laps. I am only trying to get more comfortable with the open water. I could swim them fast or slow, it didn't matter. But I only had to do two.

I slowly started walking into the water. Even though it was 90 degrees outside, that water was cold. Once again, it took me about ten minutes to get in. A guy came down to the water (and he didn't look like he wanted to push me under, thank GOD!) and started walking in. He too, said it was pretty cold. By this time I was in almost up to my arm pits. I slipped my goggles on and took the plunge. I went under the first rope and saw that I could still stand up. I don't have to go any deeper to swim, right? This little roped off section was about 60 yards long. I felt a lot more comfortable knowing I COULD stop and touch the bottom if I wanted to. I did SO MUCH better this time than I did last time. Phew! I took it nice and slow, breathing easily and not rushing. I was able to complete eight laps. I had my eyes open the whole time and I never had a panic attack. Hallelujah, right?

I feel such a sense of relief now. Just the fact that I got back in the lake was a huge step for me. I've been worrying about it for over a week now. I only have to swim 400 yards in the sprint triathlon I have signed up for and I'm not as worried as I was a week ago. I will keep going to the lake and go out a little deeper each time. I think this will work out fine. I know I can do it, it will just take some practice. Practice I can do.

Oh, and this has been swirling around in my head for a few days. I don't remember where I read it, but it makes sense. Open water swimming compared to pool swimming is like trail running compared to track running. That's all I needed to know. ;)

Until later.............